PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS IN THE HEADLINES)
Reds serge past Spurs after Kane’s opener sends Chivers down Martin’s spine. Sterling’s scoring streak sees City home. Hungry Foxes feast on fallen Saints. Pulisic treble helps Chelsea capitalise on Barnes’ broken radar. Captain Granit crumbles. Penalty saves Krul comfort as Martial lays down the law in Norwich. Indignant Everton fall to first VAR pen in the Prem. Short shrift for Longstaff in Tyneside draw. Sheffield show steel to pick up a point at the Hammers. Hornets lacking sting, as Bournemouth draw blank.
LA LIGA WEEK 10 HIGHLIGHTS
Granada took full advantage of El Clasico’s postponement to claim a hugely improbable top spot with a win over Betis. Sociedad moved up to the third after sneaking a victory in Vigo at the death. Atletico beat Bilbao in a routine 2-0 home win, while Sevilla did the same to Getafe. Toko Ekambi’s fine scoring form continued as the Yellow Submarine downed Eibar 4-1. Osasuna made it 32 games unbeaten at home by defeating Valencia. Valladolid picked up a useful home win, while Mallorca failed to reproduce the form they showed against Real going down to Leganes, who remain bottom. Espanyol got a vital three points to make it a good week for the bottom two.
SERIE A WEEK 9 HIGHLIGHTS
Serie A’s big hitters were pegged back this week, as Juventus were held at Lecce and Inter limited to a point at home to Parma. Sarri’s decision to rest Cristiano Ronaldo was not capitalised on by Napoli, though, who couldn’t get past SPAL in Ferrara. Atalanta, however, did not pass up the opportunity to close the gap on the top two as La Dea reached seventh heaven in a rout of Udinese. Goals from talismen Dzeko and Immobile saw both Roman clubs secure two-one wins at the expense of Milan and Fiorentina respectively. Cagliari picked up a point in Turin, Sassuolo got all three in Verona, whilst Genoa’s new boss Thiago Motta got off to a winning start at home. Ranieri’s Samp remain bottom after defeat at Bologna.
BUNDESLIGA WEEK 9 HIGHLIGHTS
Monchengladbach extended their stay at the top of the table to 3 weeks with a 4-2 home win over the Eagles. Lewandowski netted again to make it 13 scoring games in a row in all competitions and a new Bundesliga record of 9 in a row to start the season. Bayern were made to sweat it out though and were grateful to Neuer for saving one of the two penalties they conceded against a feisty Union. Freiburg proved they are no flash in the pan by beating Leipzig to take third. Wolfsburg slipped to fourth after a disappointing goalless draw with Augsburg. The Revier derby also lacked goals, but Schalke were clearly the better of the teams on display. Bayer and Werder drew 2-2, and Hoffenheim made it 3 wins on the bounce at Hertha. In the basement, Mainz won to move out of the bottom three, whilst Paderborn got their first win of the season, but stay in last position.
LIGUE 1 WEEK 11 HIGHLIGHTS
As I hinted at previously, Ligue 1 is already over. If you were planning on betting against another PSG title, don’t. Marseille were the latest to be dispatched this week and, to make matters worse, Mauro Icardi is now firing on all cylinders. It just seems unfair. There was, however, a return to form for the other big guns as Lyon, Monaco and Lille all won. Pity they’re all so far behind already. Promoted Brest reached the dizzy heights of fifth with a win that put Dijon bottom, as Strasbourg vacated that position with victory over Nice. Elsewhere, Rennes pipped Toulouse in a 3-2 thriller, and Wahbi Khazri finally ended his goal drought as St Etienne drew with Amiens. Montpellier vs Angers and Reims vs Nimes yielded no goals.
